The Rental Show 2012 in New Orleans will begin February 5 with a full day of seminars and will continue with morning educational sessions February 7-8, with a total of 30 seminars.

This year’s Rental Show will introduce its first indoor-outdoor product demonstrations, which are half-day sessions limited to 50 participants. Unlike other Show education sessions, these demonstrations require pre-registration.

“These include classroom instruction and actual product demonstrations on generators and power distribution for both construction and special events, concrete surface preparation and polishing, hardwood floor installation and refinishing, and scaffolding,” said Allison Box, ARA senior administrative director for association services.

Steve Abercrombie, a financial expert who has attended previous Rental Shows, will lead a half-day session on financial planning for rental store owners. He and his associate, Barbara Carper Nuss, will present a seminar on using ARA’s Cost of Doing Business Report with bankers.

Also returning this year, Dan Kaplan will offer “Up Close and Personal With Dan Kaplan,” a 90-minute session limited to 100 attendees in which Kaplan will present his perspectives on rental equipment industry’s history and future.

John McClelland, ARA vice president of government affairs, will present ARA Rental Market Metrics, a 90-minute session. He will also introduce Gary McArdle, who will discuss how Rouse Analytics benchmarking service has adopted ARA Rental Market Metrics.

Other seminars include identify theft prevention, hiring, social media, communication, customer service, business culture, succession planning, negotiating, and Web presence and search engine optimization. The rental town hall sessions will return, and the Show will feature round-table discussions February 8, including managing risk, family business and marketing strategies.